Colts take another step in development

February 10, 2014|Reuters

The Sports Xchange

NFL Team Report - Indianapolis Colts - INSIDE SLANT

The Indianapolis Colts made a lot of progress over the course of the 2013 season.

And the Colts fought through some adversity as injuries hit the team hard at several positions, most notably at wide receiver (Reggie Wayne), tight end (Dwayne Allen), running back (Vick Ballard, Ahmad Bradshaw), offensive line (Donald Thomas) and cornerback (Greg Toler).

How bad did the injury bug hit? Seven starters were sidelined for the season and Indianapolis led the NFL with 17 players listed on injured reserve by the end of the year.

Add to the fact that Indianapolis had a first-year offensive coordinator in Pep Hamilton, who changed most of what the Colts did a year ago. And head coach Chuck Pagano was back full-time after missing most of the 2012 season as he battled leukemia.

Still, Indianapolis posted a second-straight 11-win regular season, won the AFC South championship, had a 6-0 record in the division, qualified for the playoffs for the second year in a row and won a home playoff game.

The Colts, who were wild-card participants in 2012, advanced to the divisional playoff round this year before eventually losing to the New England Patriots.

And there were outstanding individual accomplishments as well. Outside linebacker Robert Mathis had a league-leading and franchise-record 19.5 sacks. Quarterback Andrew Luck showed improvement in his second season. And T.Y. Hilton continued to blossom into one of the NFL's best young receivers.

So, yes, there was a lot of progress. But there's also a lot of work to be done this offseason in order for Indianapolis to take yet another step up the playoff ladder.

In the days after the loss to the Patriots, Pagano told his team to take some time off, get their collective batteries recharged and be ready to get going when offseason workouts get underway in April.

"You have to get away from football for a little bit. You got to get away from it mentally. You got to recharge. You got to get your body back, all those type of things. But you can't get away too long. We're 14 weeks away from starting the offseason program which will start April 21st. We're 29 weeks away from training camp. It's going to be on us before you know it," the Colts coach said.

"It's very important, No. 1, to get away. Reacquaint yourself with your better half, with your loved one, your significant other, your children if you have them. Do those types of things. But the way the offseason is set up, we don't have a lot of time with these guys in the offseason to develop guys, especially young guys. I stress the importance of getting away, recharging, and getting back to work."

In looking back at the just completed season, Pagano liked what he saw.

"The sky is the limit for this group. I really believe we came very close. We were one of eight. Again, we took the next step, but three teams that are playing Sunday, if you will, we beat, Denver, San Francisco and Seattle. We beat all three of those teams. We didn't reach our ultimate goal. We're going to keep chasing it. We always will. That will never change. But the sky is the limit. We've got a great group here. We've got the foundation that we laid," he said.

"Have we overachieved? I don't think so because everybody in that locker room and our coaches expected this. Now we know what the expectations are going to be. They're going to be even higher. But that's where you want to be. The schedule is going to be harder. That's just how it goes. We got the right men in that locker room for the job."

There will be changes coming in terms of the roster. But no firm decisions have been made just yet.

"We will begin the evaluation process, starting with ourselves, starting with myself. Our coaches will turn every stone, offense, defense and special teams. We will look to get better in every area that we need to improve on," Pagano added.

"That starts with the research and development. That starts with evaluating everything that we did this season in all three phases. So we'll begin to do that and start preparation for the upcoming draft. We got the combine that will be on us before we know it. We have to deal with that."

He might also have to deal with more offseason changes to his coaching staff. Hamilton is a candidate for the head coaching job at Vanderbilt and quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen might follow former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell to Detroit.

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NFL Team Report - Indianapolis Colts - NOTES, QUOTES

--The Colts hired former Cleveland Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski as special assistant to head coach Chuck Pagano.

Chudzinski and Pagano have worked together in the college and NFL ranks for eight seasons. Pagano served as a graduate assistant at Miami during Chudzinski's freshman year at the school in 1986. They then were assistant coaches with the Hurricanes from 1995-2000 and spent the 2004 season with the Cleveland Browns.